Some Memorials Of The Globe Lod Ge,No. 23, And Of The "Red Apron."

the Bath . The sash or ribbon of this Order is red , worn over the right shoulder . In my opinion , the office of Grand Steward really dates from the year 1728 , for although there had been Stewards previously , their appointment was intermittent owing to the difficulty of finding brethren willing to discharge

the duties thereof . In 1728 twelve Stewards were appointed for the first time , and from that period to the present no difficulty whatever has been experienced in finding the requisite number of qualified brethren ready and even eager to undertake the duties of the office .

Now , although the " Red Apron " is not mentioned in the Grand Lodge records prior to 1731 , it does not follow that it was previously unknown , for we must bear in mind that the minutes of the Grand Lodge were very brief—being but a bare record of the actual transactions in the Grand Lodge itself—and do not include any action of the Grand Master

outside of that assembly . I think it quite probable that about the year 1728 , the Grand Master as a further inducement for brethren to serve the office of Grand Steward , gave a verbal sanction to their being distinguished from the ordinary Masters and Wardens

, and that this sanction was formally ratified by the Grand Lodge on the 17 th of March , 1731 . The Most Honourable Order of the Bath , after having been many years in abeyance , was revived by George II . on the 17 th June , 1725 , on which day thirty-six knights were

installed , at least five of whom were active members of the Craft , headed by the Duke of Montague , who was appointed by the King , Grand Master of the revived Order , the Duke of Richmond , the Earl of Deloraine , the Earl of Inchiquin , Grand Master 1726 and Sir Thomas Cokewho .

, , as Lord Lovell , was installed Grand Master in 1731 . The before-mentioned John Anstis , Register of the Gaiter , was also appointed Genealogist and Herald of Arms of the Order of the Bath on its revival .

SIGNATURES OF THE GRAND OFFICERS , 1723-21 .

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AIt will thus be seen that a strong Masonic leaven permeated both the Noble Orders above-mentioned at the period of the selection of distinctive colours for the Craft , and having looked at the subject from every conceivable point of view , rejecting several possibilities , I am unable to think of a more feasible

explanation of their adoption than that now enunciated . In concluding these memorials of the Globe Lodge a brief notice of the eminent brethren whose signatures , in all probability , were appended to its original Constitution , may not be without interest .

At the period of the enrolment on the Grand Lodge Register of the Lodge which subsequently adopted the distinctive appellation of " The Globe , " Warrants in their present form were unknown , or , at all events , not in use by the Grand Lodge of England until about 30 years later . The

method of constituting a Lodge in the metropolis was for the Grand Officers to appear in person at the intended meeting place of the new Lodge , and having performed the usual ceremonies of Constitution and Installation , to sign a declaration to that effect on the first page of the Lodge Minute Book .

For Lodges in the provinces and abroad an official document known as a " Deputation " was issued by the Grand Master to some eminent brother , generally residing in the district , authorizing him to act as his Deputy in the performance of the necessary functions . The signatures here reproduced are from the first

Minute Book of the Grand Lodge of England , and were appended to the minutes of a meeting held at the Merchant Taylor's Hall on the 24 th June , 1724 . No other official was , at this period , acknowledged as a Grand Officer . Francis Scott , 3 rd Earl of Dalkeith , subsequently 2 nd Duke

of Buccleugh , wasagrandson of the ill-advised and unprincipled Duke of Monmouth , executed for rebellion in 1685 , and was therefore of Royal descent , being great grandson of King Charles II . His bold and striking autograph is characteristic of the man , who has already been mentioned in these pages

as having been the first to suggest the formation of a Committee for the General Fund of Charity . On the Committee being established he was appointed by his successor , the Duke of Richmond , one of its members in conjunction with the Duke of Montague . It is on record that he attended

every meeting of the Grand Lodge during his Grand Mastership , and evinced a keen interest in the affairs of the Craft during the remainder of his life . In 1725 he was a member of a Lodge held at The Rummer , Charing Cross .

The second signature is that of the celebrated John Theophilus Desaguliers , LL . D ., F . R . S ., who was Grand Master in 1719 , subsequently serving as Deputy to the Duke of Wharton , 1722-3 , the Earl of Dalkeith , 1723-4 , and Lord Paisley , 1725-6 , the only instance in the history of the English Craft of a Past Grand Master tilling the subordinate

post of Deputy Grand Master . Dr . Desaguliers is not inaptly described as the " Father of Modern Speculative Masonry , " and there can be no doubt that he well merited that distinction for he certainly

contributed more than any other person to the consolidation of the Society and the diffusion of its principles ; indeed , he may justly be deemed to have been the back-bone of the Grand Lodge from its formation until shortly before his death in 1744 . He was a member of several Lodges , one of

them being a Lodge held at The Horn Tavern , Westminster , now represented by the Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge , one of the four old Lodges that formed the Grand Lodge of England . Francis Sorell , Esq ., was a member of the same Lodge ,

and was , doubtless , a zealous member of tne Order , as he was appointed Senior Grand Warden by two successive Grand Masters . He died in 1743 , and was then Secretary of the Tax Office . John Senex was an eminent Cartographer , Bookseller ,

and Globe-Maker , having a shop " against St . Dunstan ' s Church , Fleet Street . " He was a member of a Lodge held at The Fleece , in Fleet Street . In 1728 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society . He died December 30 th , 1740 . ( Concluded . )